I really want to lose weight, and now I have got more reasons for losing weight than keeping it.

1) I want to look great in my graduation dress next year.2) Actually I wanted to take more self-portraits, and it would be great if I was thinner.3) My face would not be that.. fat.

Maybe I am just too self-critic, but I started the experiment one week ago.

Actually I do not do much, I just stopped eating sweets, chips, crisps and extra fat. I also do not eat carbohydrates in the evening, which is a torture for me. Could anyone tell me what to eat except boiled ham? And: I eat Fruits and vegetables! They are healthy.

And since I am a photographer, I thought "hey. You take pictures of nature once a week. That's enough sports." Haha, the weather gets colder, and I am getting ill much easier, so I prefer staying inside. But that period is over now.I will start sports, too. A friend of mine is taking me to the gym in half an hour, and I will workout to improve my stamina and my strengh.I will totally fail, since my stamina is about minus infinite.

Stay positive! Really positive! The way I do that is by telling myself "Think of the day when you're the youngest person to ever get a Nobel prize, and you look amazingly beautiful and you're clever and all the people who tried to crush your dreams are sitting in a gutter and YOU'RE the person who helps them." I know that's weird, but I am, and also:

drink plenty of water to flush out your system! And fresh air, even if you just sit outside! I find it hard to lose weight, but I still give advice to people...Sorry, that was really long.

I don't recommend this product since I've never used it... but the article in general about how to eat is good. [link] I've met Mark McDonald twice now and he's helped me a lot with my health. He explains why carbs aren't bad, why not to skip meals and how to get fit vrs just thinner.

Summary, people need to eat 6-8 small meals a day, basically whenever you feel truly hungry. They should be a balanced mix of a carb, fat and a protein. This will stabilize your blood sugars which will cause your body to eat fat. Examples would be egg, almonds and cottage cheese. Toast, ham and skittles. Apple, peanut butter and a cheese stick, etc.

Once you get going it's easy to mix and match properly and eat anything basically. Also, eat proteins first. Proteins are digested by the stomach, carbs are digested in the mouth so you'll be less hungry and crave less carbs if you eat the proteins first.

You will never have to suppress your appetite, and you will never have to count calories. Everything will fall into place, quite literally. Diabetes and obesity no longer a problem? Neither are all the other health effects of a bad diet such as: bad unexplainable rashes, feeling unnaturally grumpy or snappy, mental fogginess, low energy, and inability to sleep.

A last anecdotal point? I've been doing this for 2 weeks and dropped 10lbs. It's as easy as pie!

If you want more information, I will gladly link you to various online resources that will help you.

Now that I have your attention I'd like to point out that you have to find what works for you, above everything else! There is no universal way to eat and people are all different. That being said, cutting down on sugars and carbs such as bread and replacing them with veggies and some fruit with a healthy serving of proteins and healthy fats never harmed anyone. Also, the reason the diet below this comment works is parallel with the same principle of cutting back carbs and moving metabolism forward. However, Taubes does not stress exercise in his book -- hopefully you will find some relevant information that works for you. (Personally, I do strength training and yoga. You can always exercise how you prefer, but I would stay away from high-impact cardio just as a personal suggestion. I'll include links to explain why)

[link] (Great scientific blog about food myths. You'll have to prowl through it. He cites many references in the low-carb community you will get used to seeing. Also, reading comments on any of these articles is a great way to get perspective on both sides of any issue as there are always people who disagree.)

And finally, looking into the scrutiny of low-carb and exercise: (There is a lot of controversy on this subject, it is totally up to you to do your research before making a decision on the best plan for you. )Positive: [link]

I try to do as much research as possible when it concerns my health! Your plan sounds fine. Warming up and breathing exercises before your workout (with a protein snack before and after) will also relieve some of your muscle soreness from all that iron pumping.

Good for you~ The steps you've taken so far are great! Let me offer some personal advice and some insight.

Rule 1: I'd suggest stop eating all carbs except vegetables and a few choice nuts and berries. <-- minimal. They are seasonal and should be eaten sparsely. No sugar at all, no fruit drinks (the worst!), even try cutting artificial sweetners that have real sugars attached. (You'd be surprised at how many artificial sweetners have real sugar in them. Look on the packets, is marked as "Dextrose") Again, do not eat too much fruit. A banana, despite the nutritional facts and common diet explanations for all it's goodness, is actually much worse for you than a nice, natural, grass fed steak.

The reason you stopped losing weight is you stopped eating so many carbs and sugars. If you want to make the weight loss permanent, you must stop carbs and sugars permanently. If you want to keep losing weight, but at a more efficient pace (let's call this "maximum speed" without the fear of a disorder) that your body is actually naturally acclimated ("designed") to do. Let me explain some of the the science behind it:

The more sugar we eat/drink the harder it is for our bodies to use the energy already stored as fat in our bodies, preferring instead to use all the carb fuel. It isn't even good to load up on carbs before a workout, despite common say so! (Inefficient and makes us hungrier. Muscles need protein before and after a workout, not bread)

(I strongly suggest you look up insulin spikes and why they happen and why they make us fat.)

But here's a simple breakdown: Insulin prevents your body from using your own fat stores and leaves your body unable to burn anything but carbs. Forget everything you've ever known about calories - they don't matter. I'll get into this later.

When we "crash" from a sugar high, it's actually your body telling you to get more cheap energy to use to turn into fat. Is why you feel hungrier and eat more if you eat nothing but junk and processed food all day. And the additional crux of the problem is -- the carb energy you're consuming so quickly is burned because your body is making fat out of it and trying to keep making fat. It doesn't want to burn it, so it stores it. Terrible feedback loop, isn't it?Sugar>Insulin Spike>fat>need for more sugar>insulin spike>fat>need for more sugar, etc.

There is more information here: [link]Also, you might check out Gary Taubes, a medical journalist who wrote two very informative books on obesity backed with science data: "Bad Calories, Good Calories", and "Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It".

Do not do cardio exercises. They are not the proper way to lose weight (opt for low weight/high rep weights instead). Stamina is great - strength is better! The reason for this is your body adjusts its metabolism according to how much energy it needs to burn. More muscle = more efficient metabolism. Running is a short-term only makes your tired and hungry. I don't have a link off the top of my head, but don't try to google this. It's all calorie-related and calories don't really count if you're not a hardcore athlete. If you'd like, I will go get more references.

Do not pay attention to calories. It is a myth your body needs more output than it needs input from calories. The laws of thermodynamics do exist, but diet magazines and columns focus on the wrong information. Here's it in a nutshell: Energy is energy, but your body does discriminate. As proved by the insulin effect.

Focus on the type of calories you are consuming. Eat plenty of fats and protein (but keep lean protein to 20-30% of diet, and not 100% as too much protein turns into glucose which may make you gain weight) and focus on green, leafy vegetables. Spinach will always be better than a potato, and not because of calories!

Thank you very much for your long comment.It is really informative, and I already heard of insuline and the fact that calories are not that important. I ate carbs in the morning, a mixed meal for lunch, and proteins in the evening, but now I eat normal again (no sweets, though). And I stopped loosing weight. What a shame.

Honestly, loosing weight is not a good thing. It's actually dangerous, at least if you do it alone. I would recommend you to ask someone to help you stay in control. A lot of people who try to lose weight end up ill, because you think you are in control, but you're never getting satisfied, so you'll keep losing weight. Sorry to be this much of a downer, but unless it's absolutely necessary, I would recommend you to just not lose weight.

Sorry, just don't want anyone to get into a situation they don't want to be in..

Instead of doing all that complicated stuff that makes your brain hurt, just dont eat junk food. Replace all the unhealthy things with healthy things and you will end up the being the weight you are supposed to be. It may not be as thin as you would like, but thats a healthy you. I've done it, and it is totally worth it. It means you dont miss out on anything good But when doing this, you can treat yourself every so often, because im sure you'll deserve it. Also the 30 mins of excersize a day is a good thing. Maybe get creative or do something you havent done before just to make it interesting

It's really very simple: burn more calories than you taker in. Easier said than done, eh? lol. But that is how I lost weight. First, calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate). This will tell you how may calories you burn on an average day. Once you know this number, you then start counting your calorie intake ( a pain in the ass at fisrt, but it DOES get easier). You want to create a deficit of at least 500 calories a day in order to lose about 1lb a week. A 1000 Calorie deficit will be be about a 2lb loss per week. Anymore than that is not healthy, unless you are severely over-weight. The easiest way to do this is by upping your exercise ( burn at least 250 a day through exercise),and reducing your calorie intake by at least 250 a day. So in other words, let's say your BMR is 1400 and you exercise and burn another 250. This would then be a burn of 1650. You want to have a deficit of 500 for a 1lb a week. Thus, you would want to keep your incoming calories at about 1150 ( 1650 minus 500= 1150). Make sense? A little confusing at first, but this is the equation for weight loss. If you stick to it, you WILL lose weight. I have lost about 13 lbs in 2 months,and I have medical issues which typically make it hard to lose weight.

A few other tips: lots of water as it suppresses appetite- drink a full glass before and after every meal.Increase your fiber through fruits and veggies, grains, oats, etc.Eat healthy carbs before a workout and lean protein afterwards to help keep your energy up.Cut back on all simple sugar intake....in other words, limit the junk food.Do strength training ( like lifting light weights) BEFORE doing aerobic activity- this will help you burn more calories quicker.Drink 1-2 cups of green tea a day- it is supposed to be very helpful for weight loss and it is also full of anti-oxidants which will help keep you healthy.Try to exercise for at least 1 hour a day- all at once or broken into segments.And my last tip- Decrease your stress levels by finding ways to relax. The higher your stress, the more elevated your cortisol levels become. High cortisol levels are dangerous and a major reason for weight gain and an inability to lose weight.

I hope this is helpful to you. Also, check your BMI to find out what a healthy weight is for you, and aim for a reasonable goal weight. The slower you lose the weight, the better off you will be and the longer you will keep it off. People who lose weight too fast through fad diets and extreme exercise will almost always gain it back very quickly, and likely be even heavier than they were before they started. It took me yrs to accept that and be smart about how I lose weight. It takes patience and faith in yourself. Good luck to you!

Thank you for your long comment. You encouraged me to continue.I already cut of dinners containing carbs, but I do not find any quick meals for eating only proteins in the evening. Do you have some tips?I already workout, and it's lovely.

I'm all about quick meals. Some simple protein-rich items which are easy to cook up- chicken cutlets can be cooked quickly in the oven and with a side of veggies makes for a great meal. Beans and brown rice is a very simple meal. Beans are a great source of protein when you don't want to eat meat or don't have time to cook. If you eat frozen items ( I don't because I'm a celiac and must be careful about what I eat), you can buy frozen items such as lack bean patties that are easily cooked and high in protein. Shrimp is also very quick and easy source of protein. And finally, when you really want something fast and simple, peanut butter has a good amount of protein. I like to have it with an apple or with celery. I try to keep my dinners simple...a lean protein, a large portion of veggies ( about 80% of your diet should be fruit and veggies)and I sometimes add a small portion of a healthy carb like brown rice or quinoa. Season like crazy too. If your food is bland and unenjoyable, you will not feel satisfied and you will end up snacking. Cut back on salt of course but go heavy on all the seasonings that you love. It will make a huge difference and you will actually enjoy eating healthy, rather than feeling like it's a punishment. Keep eating carbs early in the day as you need them for energy, but decreasing them at dinner and afterwards is a good idea.

well , try to eat more times-less quantity every time, try to don't eat very much at night, before sleep, an more early in the morning and midday, don't abuse of carbohydrates (bread, spaguetti, ..), drink water, no coke and this thigs, eat fruit, ....really i don't know, i would say only eat healthy, no i'm the same as at the begining

I got my hand on a beginner's yoga video, and a pair of 5lb weights, and did yoga one night, and a few exercises with the weights the next, and within just a couple of weeks I notices much more change in my figure than I expected to, not to mention the mental and emotional changes!

Losing weight isn't about cutting out the foods you love... It's just about two things: exercising and portions. You've got the exercising thing downput, so onto portions! Instead of cutting out chips or chocolate completely, just have a small handful or three squares. Use junk food as treats if you feel the need to have it. Eat simple and nourishing foods. The best way to do this is to make everything yourself and buy only raw materials from the grocery store. Good luck with the lifestyle change!